First Fleetwood Mac Interview After Buckingham Split....

Doesn't matter. Fleetwood Mac is not Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey. I won't be lining up for anything this new version does.

[R1] I agree. I think it's a travesty and I hope their tour is a debacle. Stevie and Mick should be ashamed of themselves.

This Stevie quote struck me: "We don’t want to stop playing music. We don’t have anything else to do."

Oh, I don't know Stevie...travel, study, support a cause, enjoy your vast wealth in your golden years? The fame addiction of elderly celebs is sad, and I say this as a huge Stevie fan.

“We were supposed to go into rehearsal in June and he wanted to put it off until November [2019],” says Nicks."

I wonder why Lindsey wanted to wait that long to tour.

Christine made it clear that it wasn't a "firing" after their lawyers gave them a clear reminder that Buckingham still has an ownership stake in the band and will still be making money off this tour even though he's not on stage.

I guess the bitter irony of singing "never break the chain" in this situation is lost on them. They've grown very greedy and cynical.

Neil Finn looks embarrassed.

R2: Why should Stevie and Mick be ashamed because Lindsey wanted to delay a tour for nearly two years?

Mike Campbell I can see as a replacement, as a replacement for Lindsey but why add Finn? Why bother with him? Might as well Just get Colin Fuckin Hay.

[R8] Because without Lindsey's talent and vision they never would have become superstars and would all be mostly forgotten. Stevie NEVER would have made it. Without him, she'd be an eccentric, tubby, pill-popping, whiskey-swilling Phoenix housewife on her third or fourth marriage with delinquent children. As far as Mick's concerned, Lindsey saved him from being a pathetic has-been wreck. He'd probably be dead today without Lindsey.

The band has worked around Stevie's pointless solo tours for years. You'd think they'd extend Lindsey the same respect out of loyalty.

Am I the only one who doesn’t greet the news they will be playing pre-1975 Fleetwood Mac as good news? Ugh. No fucking thank you. Who wants it? That is reason enough for me to sit this one out and I am a DEVOTED fan. But admittedly I am a fan of their post White album catalogue. Between the always interminable 20 minute version of Gold Dust Woman to now dusting off Peter Green era Mac blues songs? There are only so many beer runs a man can take! None for me, thanks.

I am a lifelong fan, but as for this tour? I've had sufficient.

[quote][R2]: Why should Stevie and Mick be ashamed because Lindsey wanted to delay a tour for nearly two years?

Maybe because they just came off a frickin' tour and Lindsey has a family he'd like to spend time with? Stevie is right when she says she has "nothing else to do" but she could also add that she's afraid of becoming irrelevant. As for Mick, Stevie said herself that he "loves money"; he's also deathly afraid of going bankrupt yet again.

[quote]This is sad for me, but I want the next 10 years of my life to be really fun and happy. I want to get up every day and dance around my apartment and smile and say, ‘Thank God for this amazing life.’”

I see Stevie is still pushing the narrative that Lindsey still hasn't gotten over her, and thus is making her life hell. I can't wait for her to throw FM under the bus when this tour flops.

She lives in an apartment?

r5 does LB really have an ownership stake, as he wasn't a founder - ? I thought Mick F had all rights to the band name, possibly along with John McVie.

[R14] Stevie has several houses (including the one featured in the IN YOUR DREAMS doc) but I think she lives primarily in the penthouse of a condo building on the Pacific Coast Highway that's plainly visible - it reaches all the way down the hillside to PCH from the street above.

Stevie's Santa Monica beach pad condo.

OP the pic look extremely tragic. They look like strangers thrown together to create a reality rock band and I love FM

Hi Lindsay at R10!

[R18] I thought the same thing! Awkward angle and pose for Stevie and it's telling that she's looking away. Guess they didn't agitate for photo-approval.

I am not feeling this interview. And I feel like this is the first time Stevie actually looks OLD. Like... elderly lady. And Christine looks like she’s propped up by smelling salts. Mick however weirdly retains bizarre sex appeal.

[quote]"Majority rules in term of what we need to do as a band and go forward" - Mick Fleetwood

Exactly.

It's not Lindsay Buckingham's Fleetwood Mac. It's a band that has had a fifty year history of rotating band members. Lindsay helped add to its success, but he is not the be all end all reason for it. What a slap in the face to the unsung people like Ken Calliat and Richard Dashut.

He had no problem dumping McVie and going off to do an album and tour without her. He had no problem leaving at the last minute before a huge world tour to promote an album, leaving the band to look for last minute replacements. He didn't want to do it, fine. But ludicrous that the whole band should have to pass up a moneymaking opportunity because of one member. Or that they should sit around doing nothing for a year because Buckingham doesn't feel like doing anything.

Honestly, if anyone has pull in the group, it has been Stevie Nicks. She's had the major solo career, and the real leverage to pull. Yet she's never complained once when the band performed without her. And she's given unwavering loyalty to the group when others in her position would have kissed them off years ago. I don't doubt for a second that if Buckingham had her number of hit albums and songs, that he would have been as eager to rejoin the group.

This tour should be good. Finally, they'll get to have fun on stage and not having to worry about having to constantly cater to the massive ego that is Lindsay Buckingham.

[R21] Thanks for posting the video. I felt queasy watching it. They all seen so tired, stilted and uninspired. This is a pointless endeavor poisoned by bitterness. I'm finding Stevie very glib and annoying and I've been a fan since age 12. Don't hold your breath for an album. It's ironic they'd bring that up since it was Stevie who ruined the chance for a last album of the FAB FIVE - something that fans have been dreaming of for years.

Lindsey will be back at some point.

The band was supposed to do a big tour a couple of years ago, but Stevie had other plans - her own tour, for one thing. Since she's the major draw, they had to wait until she was free and willing to tour with them again.

In the meantime, Lindsey had put together an album's worth of songs he was planning as the group's next album. Since there was not going to be a tour, he and Christine did the record and the tour as a side project.

Now Stevie's free and the band is ready to tour. Everyone knows Lindsey and Stevie's history. Everyone knows that Lindsey resents the hell that he's been the major force in the band, but Stevie's far and away the most famous.

Obvious conclusion: this was Lindsey's tit-for-tat: if the band can wait around till Stevie's ready to tour with the group, they can damn well wait around for him. Except that they decided not to wait.

[R25] I agree with that assessment and I can imagine how shocked and angry Lindsey must have been when they brought up the notion of touring without him - something that just a few months ago would have been inconceivable. What they have now is a listless, joyless. somber and contrived group of people who are in it exclusively for the money. There's no chemistry or magic among this "new"(gag!) group.

If that what Stevie wants, then fine. Lindsey has been what's kept them credible and aspirational when other bands of their vintage have just been lazy and out for a paycheck. Stevie can tour as a wind-up relic (teleprompter reads: TWIRL, THEN SHAKE TAMBOURINE) with a ruined voice as long as there are paying customers to fund her ego and narcissism.

It's all very sad. And Mick seems both haunted and mortified.

Fuck Fauxwood Mac. I'll trade my hard-earned $$$ for the outrageously priced tickets Mick is hoping to line his pockets with for a nosebleed seat @ his Golde Oldies tribute band, for front row seats to Lindsey Buckingham solo.

It doesn't matter how talented the musicians are they hire to replace LB (it took TWO, I might add, TWICE) without Lindsey, they are a karaoke band. He may be an asshole, but he is the architect responsible for the sound of Fleetwood Mac for decades now.

Stevie: "I'm not the boss of this band" That's some funny shit right there. They've been catering to her "solo career" forever, while creating new music for FM took a back seat because she refused. Double standard much? Twirl away, bitch.

R22- I thought that "Majority rules" statement interesting, when in the interview Christine implies she was not part of the decision-making process and was informed after the fact. After her recent Buckingham-McVie collaboration and subsequent tour with Lindsey, I believe her.

If I go see them, it will be for Christine and no one else.

I look forward to not having to hear those long screeching guitar solos go on and on and on

[R30] You mean the ones that prove Lindsey is peerless in his art?

Hopefully we’ll get a new Lindsey solo album

[R32] He has a pop album done and ready to go.

R31 I seriously laughed at that comment.

There were great during the Rumours and Tusk tours, I haven't seen them since. They peaked a long time ago.

Funny how they consider themselves a team but it's either majority rules or Mick and Stevie rule.

I agree LB can be an ass, and self-indulgent, but if they're a team, they could have waited for him. I am sure he would have toured again.

And them avoiding the word "fired" is such bullshit. This gives me a different impression of Stevie.

I'm sure the decision was 95% Stevie, 4% Mick with John's 1% ass dragged along. Christine was iced out of the decision making process.

Lindsay could have waited for McVie instead of recording Say You Will and touring without her as well.

R30 preferable to listening to Stevie ramble on and on and ON for 30+ minutes with one of her stock "mystical crystal visions" speeches before she can sing a 3 minute song?

[R38] It wasn't a question of "waiting" for Christine at that point. She agreed to recording but refused to tour. The band rightly concluded that it would be strange to have new songs in the offing (and probably a Christine Adult Contemporary hit or two) and not be able to play them live on the huge, successful tour that supported SAY YOU WILL.

If they're a team, they could have also abided by her wishes.

R13: Fleetwood Mac has not toured since 2015.

Can’t they all just go down together in their tour plane in a fiery ball?

R25 It was supposed the be the next Fleetwood Mac album but Stevie wanted nothing to do with it so they called it a Duets album.

Stevie loves to tour because it's easy money. They will schedule Mac tours around her solo tours because they all know she's the main draw. Nobody will pay to see them without her.

Yawn R39. I realize you’re Lindsey’s daughter, so I won’t argue. He’s very very talented but his ego needs a reality check. Perhaps this is it.

Stevie killed Fleetwood Mac!

There’s no FM without Lindsey or Stevie. They should call themselves something else and just have guest artists on tour.

Lol at the insane Buckingham stans in this and the other FM thread. The Stevie nuts too. Way more entertaining than most anything else they've done.

I believe that [22],[30],[34],[38],[42],[45] and [48] is the same person because the post has a hostile tone to them. How much is FM paying you to control their social media/feedback?

And how much is Lindsay paying his family to post here?

Seriously, genius? The song to National Lampoon's Vacation was cute, but c'mon.

I'm r48, not the others listed at r49. And I still happen to think the insane stanning is hilarious. How is that hostile lol.

R49: My post (R42) was not remotely hostile. I was explaining that Fleetwood Mac did not tour recently. They haven't toured since 2015.

Stevie Nicks is right that it seems a long time for a tour to be delayed. Why would Lindsey want the band to wait until November of 2019 to tour?

If you want a Stevie Nicks solo show with a few junky renditions of LB’s FM songs, buy a $500 ticket.

Hopefully real FM fans will show their disgust for Stevie and Mick by staying home.

This is the Fleetwood Mac that I first fell in love with.

Stevie should fire them all and tour as Stevie Nicks and the New Fleetwood Mac.

R45- I am also R27 and R28. Not likely I'd be calling my "Daddy" an asshole, huh? Being in my 50's kinda' makes your statement a no-go too, math-wise.

But you carry on with your accusations and angry trolling of anyone who thinks this new incarnation of FM touring is anything but a cash grab.

Doesn't it all seem extremely petty? First, all of the madness with Heart (who thought a man would ever come between Ann & Nancy Wilson?) and now this! I can't believe Heart is no longer a band and Lindsey was FIRED from Fleetwood Mac. Yes, he was FIRED and the fans still haven't received a proper explanation. It was not as simple as Lindsey delaying a tour. There is more to this story.

I guess I’m the only one who thinks the new additions could make it interesting. Love Neil Finn. Agreed that he is a main creative force for the band, but his solo work is meh. He’s better in an ensemble. They all are actually. Lindsey will be back. They have toured without each of the main members (Christine, Lindsey and Stevie).

R57- yes it does seem petty. They are all pretty long in the tooth to still be behaving like children.

I realize part of the Fleetwood Mac "thing" is the long, complicated, over-dramatic history they all have with each other. However, you would think at some point they would be able to put all that shit behind them and make the most of the time they have left to perform, both for themselves, and their fans.

This latest drama just seems like a pretty excessive betrayal considering all the shit that's been glossed over or accommodated in the past. Really disappointing for long time fans.

[quote] Obvious conclusion: this was Lindsey's tit-for-tat: if the band can wait around till Stevie's ready to tour with the group, they can damn well wait around for him. Except that they decided not to wait.

I don't blame him for that attitude; this wasn't the first time FM waited around for Stevie. She delayed the recording of the Tango In The Night album to go flying around the globe to follow Tom Petty and Bob Dylan on their tour.

I see they'll be in my neck of the woods this fall; I can't wait to not see Stevie croak out "Don't Dream It's Over".

R58 love Finn too but he sticks out like a sore thumb in FM. I really don’t think he’s needed but Mick Fleetwood seems to think so so go figure. Buckingham will be back. Even if it’s just a few more , I think a FM tour with Lindsey sells more tickets. They’ve been going through this bs for over thirty years of Lindsey, Stevie and Christine leaving the band. They always come back for the money.

I'm really not a die-hard Stevie fanatic, nor am I a Lindsey hater. But, let's think of the "typical" person who attends a Fleetwood Mac concert - just the average concert goer. They are there to hear the hits. FM has had a lot of hits, written/performed by Lindsey, Stevie, and Christine. The average concert goer doesn't care that Lindsey isn't there, as long as all the same hits are sung and they sound the same.

The harsh truth is, more people know of Stevie Nicks, like it or not, than they do Lindsey Buckingham. Again, I'm not talking about hard-core fans, just the average person who'd ever consider attending their concerts. She's had more solo hits, she's more interesting to the average Joe, etc. So, in reality, I bet 12 people on average won't attend the concert for the sole reason that Lindsey's not involved. That's what little difference it will make, overall.

Do you really think the average person who says "Oh my god, I love "Go Your Own Way" and "Gypsy" are gonna suddenly say "Oh well if Lindsey Buckingham isn't there, then I'm no longer gonna go." No, the average person won't care.

Just my 2 cents. I'm not going either way - with or without him, because I'm too cheap to pay for concerts these days.

Ugh, I don't want to hear pre 1975 songs. I want to hear songs of Christine's and Stevie's that have never been performed like Warm Way, As Long As You Follow and No Questions Asked. With no Lindsay songs, this would be the perfect opportunity.

[R62] It's very different in 2018 than it was in 1987. Lindsey is as prominent in the group as Stevie. THE DANCE solidified that. Let's see how audiences respond with him not present. He has a whole lot of younger fans now - serious musicians and young bands among them - who see FM as a dinosaur without him. To them, Stevie is interesting and...tolerable, but somewhat ridiculous.

Serious fans know Lindsey's where it's at.

And don't start with Christine. She had such an incredible pop sensibility but only Lindsey knew what to do with it.

Their relationship is sweet.

Will they perform Little Lies? Seven Wonders??

Yes, Lindsey should hire Joss Stone, Colby Callet, and a few old drunks and hit the road as Lindsey Buckingham’s Big Love Mac Attack. I’d spend $500 on a ticket for that show.

R60: To be fair, Stevie had just completed her Rock A Little tour and was only in Australia for a short time. I've heard that she asked Bob Dylan for advice about her drug addiction after delaying treatment in order to complete her tour so it probably was not quite as frivolous as you may believe.

Of course she called her good friend, Bob Dylan. And then immediately told everyone that she talks about drug addiction with her good friend, Bob Dylan. THE Bob Dylan. Her good friend.

I’m sure Bob wished he knew how to work his caller ID.

Older fans don't realize how Lindsey's stock has gone up since THE DANCE. His latter day solo albums have been uniformly stunning - UNDER THE SKIN, GIFT OF SCREWS, SEEDS WE SOW - and he has the greatest respect and appreciation among serious younger musicians. His genius is just now being appreciated. His reputation is growing.

Stevie is a STAR who is tolerated and seen as a talented but narcissistic oddity.

Lindsey has no use for her personally and it kills her.

Hell hath no fury.

R69 a bit of a fanboy, huh? Jesus, you should really take it down a notch. You clearly are related to the guy? or his PR firm? or an unstable psycho fan?

Aw, R70, what stopped you from accusing R69 of being Lindsey himself? Go big or go home.

I think Neil Finn will be able to pull off all of Lindsey's vocal lines, including "Go Your own Way" (which is so distinctive). Where he'll really add to the band is if they write some new songs. he's a brilliant songwriter (way better than Buckingham) and I think he would work well with Stevie on her songs too, coming LB hasn't been able to do for decades.

I'm gonna hold off on judging them until after they start making music together, live and in the studio.

"something LB hasn't been able to do..." not "coming".

[72] Just stop Neil is a one hit wonder who many people had to Google. One #whosneil did not go as far as #IstandwithLindsey says a lot. Someone went as far to say he was a legend down under to which the response was he's only know down under. How can an unknown guy bring new fans and keep the old one? He could not get his band on the level of Milli Vanilli nor INXS which is an insulate to INXS.

Dear God, what a shitshow. Now I'm almost GLAD she aborted me.

R75... what a minute baby...

R75- Wait a minute baby...

Lindsey's three kids more than likely see Stevie as "the crazy lady dad has to put up with" and Mick as "dad's loser friend who did him a huge favor and who dad feels loyal to."

What's with all the talk of Lindsey's kids and family on a gay message board?

It's ridiculous that we're expected to believe that he was fired from the band due to a conflict over tour dates. In the same article Stevie says something about how she wants to spend the next 10 years of her life happy, i.e., away from Lindsey.

Also, no one except for five women who desperately want to fuck Lindsey listen to his protools and 80s sound effects solo shit. I'm no TEAM STEVIE and I appreciate Lindsey's work within Fleetwood Mac, but come on.

I will see them. This will probably be the last tour will go on

"Go Insane" is as good as Eighties rock ever got, R80.

R79 Ummm, hon, gay people have partners, and families with kids. Not everyone still skulks around old bathhouses.

R72, I don't think this group of people is going to make music together in the studio. Stevie has already said that albums don't make money anymore. Touring offers more money...and more basking in applause. Besides, what's the point of recording without Lindsey anyway?

With that said, I think it would be cool if Finn would perform "Leather and Lace" with Stevie. I wonder if she Lindsey would have considered doing it.

“Give to me your leather, take from me my lace”

Neil Finn may be corny, but he isn’t THAT corny!

^ I like some solo Stevie but god, I always hated that song. Apparently she wrote it for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter to sing.

R72, radio airplay does not equal talent.

NF is not a one hit wonder. He is loved down under and all over western Europe. That American DJs did not play his songs is a travesty and probably due to music industry politics.

NF is actually too talented and innovative to be in this group. I hope he doesn't get bored. This is probably a whim for him.

R87, has it somehow eluded you that on DL, the sole measure of a singer or a band's success is how many SINGLES they release(d)?

Yeah, it eluded me, too.

I meant R74, not 72.

Yeah thanks for the reminder R88.

"Something So Strong" is one of my favorite songs from the 80s:

R87 and R88, radio airplay is a pretty good indicator of popularity, which translates into tickets sales. To drag this back around to the eternal Nicks vs. Buckingham issue, it means Nicks is more bankable. No one with an ear and a brain inside or outside FM can dispute Buckingham's talents, but as the entertainment biz proves over and over, talent and ability are often only marginally related to fame and fortune. It's Buckingham's hard luck that, since he made Nicks coming with him as his condition for joining FM, she proved the more charismatic and the bigger draw. Had he come into the band without her, the story of FM would be different...for one thing, the general public would be much more aware of his influence and contributions to the band. On the other hand, the band wouldn't have reached such heights of success and wouldn't have had this long of a run. Because face it: it's the never-ending FM soap opera that keeps people interested in the band. If not for that, they'd just be another band that had some hits long ago.

I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the band and its management realized this long ago and deliberately play that aspect up in order to keep the public interested. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if they all (including Lindsey) agreed that a tour without Lindsey would help generate interest in their NEXT tour, and very likely boost a solo Lindsey tour in the interim.

Final point: there are no good guys vs bad guys in this group. They're all self-centered, venal people out for the buck and for themselves, in that order.

R17, I was trying to find the address for that building for a while. It's one of my favorites along the PCH.

I hope Neil either exits quickly...unless they decide to do another studio album where he can contribute new material. Otherwise he’s just wasted.

[quote]Stevie is a STAR who is tolerated and seen as a talented but narcissistic oddity.

oh ffs.

R68: Stevie didn't "immediately" tell everyone. It was mentioned several years later in an interview. She had contemplated finding rehabilitation in Australia.

Why are you implying that Stevie was boasting and that she annoyed Bob Dylan? Clearly, he thought of her highly enough to play on her remake of Just Like A Woman. You probably didn't know that, did you?

Part of Neil's contract requires him to "jump the trampoline" vis a vis Stevie. Lindsey opted out.

Go Your Own Way is one of their worst songs. Thank god they'll pass on that one.

Go Your Own Way is one of their best songs. THE song of '77.

R97 is a moron.

I hope they sing this, with Finn singing lead. I know it's not a FM song, but would be a good one for them to do.

"Just stop Neil is a one hit wonder who many people had to Google."

You are insane. Anyone with ANY taste knows exactly who Neil Finn is. "Time and Tide" is a masterpiece. FM are lucky to have him.

Maybe they don't give a damn if he "brings people in." Maybe they would actually like to make new music and be artists even though they're-- gasp!-- old. People are allowed to do that, you know.

XM/Sirius has a Fleetwood Mac channel now which is basically just a promo for the tour but they are playing a lot of songs you don't normally hear. Many from pre Buckingham/Nicks when they were primarily a blues band. Good interviews as well. I may go see them since I've only seen Stevie solo. I don't really care if Lindsey isn't there. Mike Campbell is a fantastic guitar player.

[100] Thanks the check's in the mail. I can pay you now for Staning cause I have gig now.

Has it been ruled out that Buckingham jumped/was pushed to avoid becoming a #MeToo casualty?

I’m open to a Lindsey-free tour (I’ve seen enough 10 minute renditions of “Never Going Back Again” to last me three lifetimes) but not at these prices. The tickets are absolutely absurd.

[R103] I seriously don't think that was a factor. The physical incidents with Stevie were first revealed in Mick's 1991 autobiography and the incidents with Carol Ann Harris were reported in her book from 2007. The fight that prompted him to quit the band is 1987 was actually started by Stevie by her own admission. It's all water long under the bridge. While these revelations amount to terrible publicity for Lindsey, and were all but forgotten until the #metoo hysteria, this latest split is probably all about money and revenge - that's what makes it so ugly and disturbing.

[quote]this latest split is probably all about money and revenge

I think Stevie's statement makes it clear that she wants less stress and more joy in her life. Working with Buckingham gives her (and the rest of FM) the exact opposite.

Lindsey's exit ensures that the band is now nothing more than a music-themed business enterprise. He alone kept up the musical quality and the high level of integrity. Now they're just a bunch of greedy, goofy, good-time Charlies stuffing their bank accounts.

What a great comment, r107. If only Stevie had been fired, and then the huge world tour was announced...

Oh, right. Sorry.

[R108] I doubt many people attend an FM/SN concert these days to actually hear Stevie Nicks sing. She is long past her prime, with a thin, nasal voice, a wobbly warble and tendency to shout out her lyrics. At this point she's like the prized object contained in a reliquary - like the Shroud of Turn or the Bones of St. Peter.

Lindsey has maintained an incredibly high performance level and without him she looks like a silly old lady with a mass of hair extensions trying to pull off an act she's decades too old for.

But Lindsey's gone, R109/R107 - apparently the least talented and most disliked member of the band, both internally and externally.

r5

Really, who has that in their contract?